


Struck Twelve

by S (Shorlinne)



Series: Simply Can't Help Themselves [4]
Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: F/F, Holiday Cute Things, New Years, Party, ambiguous timeline, canon non-compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28416696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shorlinne/pseuds/S
Summary: Patsy is dragged along to a New Years party by Jenny Lee, and slips aside to escape the crowd and finds a chance encounter.Wishy-washy timeline, an appearance by non-voiceover Jenny Lee, and some fluffy pondering for the Pupcake crew. <3
Relationships: Delia Busby & Patsy Mount, Delia Busby/Patsy Mount
Series: Simply Can't Help Themselves [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072544
Comments: 10
Kudos: 30





	Struck Twelve

“Really, this isn’t my sort of function—“

“Look, one drink! One drink and the ball drops and we’ll go. You promised me, didn’t you?”

Patsy glanced sidelong to the shorter nurse beside her, as Jenny shrugged and threw up her hands. Shaking her head the brunette sighed and moved to fix those hands through her hair, pulling out the carefully placed curls,

“Besides, I did tell Alec I wasn’t coming alone..” She trailed off as Patsy frowned behind her, picking some stray yet invisible lint off of her vest. Patsys eyes narrowed as she lowered her voice,

“And so you thought to use me as an excuse?”

“You _did_ say you had the night off,” Jenny didn’t bother glancing back, knowing by tone alone the stance Patsy had taken. Stern, tightly wound, hands curling at the ends of her sleeves worrying for something to worry at. 

She let out a long sigh and turned curtly on her heel, as Jenny gave a soft smile of triumph to herself, ignoring the blondes terseness as she stepped away to get ready. 

“You _owe_ me, Lee!”

“Of course, of course!”

—-

Against the slow crooning, Patsy’s voice was practically a hiss alongside Jenny’s ear,

“And _really_ , THIS is the music they-“

Jenny cut her off with a quick turn and a huff. The two met each other’s eyes, simmering for reasons of their own as Jenny had to keen back on her heels to peer up at the simmering blonde, both their grips tightening around not-near-full enough glasses of something bright, bubbly, and nowhere near strong enough. 

“That’s it!” Jenny hissed in retort, as the blondes brows rose, her mouth parting to say something surely smart, stinging, but Jenny had had it. 

“It’s been only twenty minutes- And all you’ve done is whinge!”

“Well, you dragged me here-“

“Yes, and I was hoping for once you’d at least lighten up!”

“Well, I’m terribly sorry to not be light enough _for_ you-“

“Enough!” Jenny put her hands up to Patsy's scowl, and shook her head tightly. 

“I’m getting another drink. And I’m finding Alec.”

“I thought you weren’t speaking?” Patsys nose wrinkled softly, but there was an element of concern. Jenny softened slightly and shrugged. A moment of silence, strained by crooning. 

“Jenny,” Patsy began, and Jenny exhaled. 

“No, no. You’re right. I’ll just— I just need a moment to simmer down.”

“And you won’t go off and do anything foolish?” The blondes face rolled into a low smirk as Jenny withheld a soft snort, and rolled her own eyes in turn. 

“Only if you don’t.”

“No promises, Lee.”

“See you back on the hour, Mount.”

—-

Patsy had, at last, found an isolated corner of brick snuggled against the wind and snow. The streetlamps cast a pale gold hue against the bright and soft snow buffeting against the community hall. Someone or others cousins and uncle had run the place, rented it out to host the nursing students New Years, and now the whole place seemed to sound of distant waiting noise, clinking glasses and rushed, chuckling conversations. The quiet outside was more warming, and Patsy settled back against the brick, feeling the surface between her shoulder blades barely buffeted by the soft coat she’d thrown on over. 

Jenny was lovely enough a person certainly. Companion. Compatriot. Associate. Acquaintance. Not so close as friends as someone she was _less_ likely to butt heads with on surgical— Bright, eager. She had her own troubles, Patsy had gleaned, but they didn’t discuss them and that was the way she liked it. 

Well, it was the way she told herself she liked it. Sometimes too much of a strained silence sent echoes through her thoughts, and placed her against those unwanted corridors of the mind and memory. 

She took a deep breath, and fumbled for her lighter as her fingertips grew slowly colder, withdrawn from the warmth of her pockets. Rolling the cigarette from its case, clicking the flame to life and steadying her hands have her a moment of focus, flickered away with the click of flame and the dull glow of the cigarette as it came to life. The dim cherrylight faded without her breath, then returned to light with a steady breath before the smoke rolled out of her lungs and mingled skyward with the snow. 

“Happy new year, Mount,” she murmured more to herself than anything. Shutting her eyes she tapped away the dashing of ash growing steadily, and snuggled into the brickwork. 

The calm was quickly dashed as down the wall a door tumbled open, and noise poured out into the night and the open. The music was only slightly improved, but over it a soft voice,

“Oh, hell- Sorry, excuse me—“

And stumbling into the snow was a small dark figure, hastening away from the quickly shutting door and the noise. It seemed to catch itself, and fold inward with a soft swear and a lilt that Patsy struggled to catch—

Wait, was that Welsh?

Curious, Patsy turned slightly to the figure who stamped in the snow, their breath coming in steady puffs. They seemed to be talking to themselves.

“Okay, Busby. It’s alright. Just a bit of crowd and noise! Nothing you can’t handle. Don’t be silly. You’ll ruin the mood, just— Just a crowd.”

They seemed to straighten but the fussing of their hands against their front for a moment and the impatient, furious huff at themself caught Patsy in a moment. Movements foreign but familiar, an indiginance and irritability at them— Ah, her?— self that seemed—

Comforting and scolding all at once. 

Then they looked up, beneath a sweep of brunette hair and eyes that burned bright with their blueness, both startled, unimpressed and huffy all at once. 

Patsy blinked. She tapped the cigarette a moment, then gave just a fraction of a wave from the bottom of her coat. The strangers features relaxed slightly, and rolled into a soft, almost self conscious smile. 

“Ah, shit. That was all aloud, wasn’t it?”

“A little.” Patsy bit back a soft smile and shrugged, “but ah. I can’t blame you.”

She pointed the cigarette back to the building and they both followed the trail as a loud cheer rose from within. Patsy shook her head and managed,

“It’s uh. Not my scene, either.”

“Oh. So you’ve come out to smoke. That’s. Respectable,” mused the brunette, trailing back to look at Patsy. Patsy wished a moment she wouldn’t, and caught a rogue breath as she tried to avoid the brightness of those eyes and the soft quirk of a smile. She was glad for the cold a moment— any excuse for the flush. She found she couldn’t find words, but the brunette filled in for her all the same,

“Better than running out to talk to yourself!”

“No!” Patsy interjected, perhaps a little louder than she’d meant to. There was a beat of their breaths in the air, as the smaller woman took a moment, just a moment only to cast her a curious eye. Patsy fumbled a moment, cursing herself before she continued,

“No— no. I only meant, ah—“

She swallowed, then flicked her cigarette into the snow and watched it extinguish. She rocked back on her heels and announced, voice feeling a moment too high,

“It’s a terrible habit anyway.”

The brunette walked over, only a few paces closer, then shrugged. The cheering had died down, and they stood facing the empty snow bank (but for the small divot of a once lit cigarette), not bothering to fill the silence for a moment. 

A pause, before the Brunette spoke once more:

“This is— This is alright. I think. May I join you outside for a bit?”

“Only if a lack of conversation doesn’t bother you,” murmured Patsy, and shrugged. A half a beat, a moment. The two cast one another a slow look. 

“Mm. I like the quiet.”

The brunette extended her hand, and quirked a soft smile to Patsy. 

“Delia. Delia Busby.”

Patsy took her hand and shook it, without a second thought. 

“Patience Mount.”

“Well then, Patience. I’ll just have to stand here and enjoy this snow with you then, won’t I?”

“You wouldn’t have to—“

“Ah, but I’d be delighted.”

Behind them, the clock began to strike twelve, as they watched the snow begin to fall. 

**Author's Note:**

> All mistakes and bits are mine. Will be going back to edit out typos, because I am a fool!


End file.
